The saga of the damaged engine aboard the Killary Flyer is not done yet. It turns out that when we were sitting in the big storm with our stern to the storm (see previous blog) and swell pounding the boat, due to the continuous pressure some water went up the exhaust and into the engine. There is a yoke called a ‘baffle’ to help protect against this but unfortunately it didn’t do enough this time. This water in the engine did untold amount of damage, seizing the engine and burning the starter motor.

So….where does that leave us?

Des Moran, County Coroner in Sligo for many years and crew aboard the North of Disko trip in 2013, has a small boat that he has offered so that we can get to dive sites around the coast. 4 weeks, 4 people, living aboard this little beauty….

Ah no…he has a gorgeous 30 foot yacht called ‘Nanette’

Unbelievable generosity form Des. Ciaran is still coming along as my back up diver and Matt is going to document for the next couple of weeks.

I put a call out to the diving community through the CFT underwater photography page looking for suggestions of unusual caves, tunnels, pinnacles, rock formations and people have been brilliant. Many thanks to Richard Thorn, Martin Kiely, Nick Pfeiffer and Ciaran O’Murchu for all their wonderful suggestions. We aim to travel the West of Ireland in Des’s boat diving as many locations as possible.

I will utilise the underwater quodpod provided by Anchor Dive Lights to create long exposure images of the underwater world.

Here is my first attempt from Carriage Cois cheim on Inis Turk. It is a blend of 5 images and edited quickly to give you an idea of the style of imagery I am trying to capture. Breffni from Scubadive West put me right onto this location.

I cannot describe the incredible energy I felt as I sat at the bottom of this cave on my own soaking up the incredible mood.

Shot on the new Canon 5DSr 50.6 MP camera so should be able to get a nice print from it.

It is with deep regret that I must report that the 'Into the Blue' project to Greenland is over for this year.

We got caught in a large storm that caused severe damage to the boat and particularly the engine.

We were stuck in a storm for 48 hours with the 'Drogue' deployed. Here's a small passage I wrote about it while on board:

'50 mph winds direct from the west make it a very uncomfortable experience. So much so that our famous 'Jordan's Drogue' which was used on North of Disko I was deployed last night at about 9pm. This 100m of rope with about 150 little parachutes attached. The whole thing is tied off the aft and hugely stabilises the boat. As the giant swell rolls through all tension is taken up by the drogue lines. They creak and groan under the strain until the wave passes....and then the next wave arrives and so on. Watch system has changed as we are going nowhere and it is now 1 hour on alone and 5 hours off. This is a watch to make sure nothing goes wrong with the Drogue.Now, although the Drogue steadies the boat a bit we are still being tossed about the place and being smashed with waves over the deck. These one hour watches became known as 'The Death Watch' by Claire on the last expedition. Basically all hatches are closed and you go out on deck on you own while everyone else sleeps. Appropriate name....I was on my 2am one last night, winds howling and shrieking through the rigging. I was sitting on the deck of the cockpit when a giant wave smashed over the entire cockpit soaking me from head to toe. This has happened to all of us at this stage.'

The 'Jordan Drogue'

A snap of our chart plotter in the middle of the storm. We travelled 80 miles in the wrong direction...towards Iceland!

The starter motor ended up heating so much to create a small fire. Not ideal 500miles from land! This effectively left us with no engine and no means of steering around those beautiful but dangerous ice bergs in Greenland. We had no choice but to turn around.

Hard and soft tack is a very old recipe for a bread that would last many months at sea without growing mould.

Weevils might get at it but if you ate it in the dark you'd never know. Soft tack is a wee bit salty but easier to bite but hard tack is a tooth breaker. Think of the hardest pizza crust you have ever tried...leftover for a few days....and add a bit of cement for good measure.

So....we are all extremely disappointed to have had to end our mission to Greenland. I am particularly disappointed not to be giving all our wonderful sponsors what they signed up for. I have made contact with almost all of our sponsors and so far the general feeling is about our safety. I have had a few days of trying to swallow the bitter pill. Months and months of training, planning and preparation by all involved.....not easy to accept but in the general scheme of things we are very lucky. I am not about to let it all die so already I am planning an alternative expedition this summer. Once the Killary Flyer is repaired we are expedition ready and are planning an trip of diving from the Skelligs to Rockall and many islands in between. We'll have the air compressor on board ready to explore some of the least dive sites off the Irish Coast. I am also planning a return trip to Greenland in 2016.

4:30pm 9th of June…..The scene was set, the crowds had gathered and we were on our way. Months of preparation and training and finally we had cast off.

The send off party

Ciaran at the Helm

Not long after clearing Killary Harbour we had some force 3 northerlies which enabled us to head West at about 7kts. Watch systems established….Andy & Ciaran, Jamie & Josie and Adam & I…..3 hours on 6 hours off. Our first watch was 9pm to 12pm and was a stunning one….great sailing and a fiery sunset.

The winds eased throughout the night and by the time Adam & I came on watch for our 6am watch the winds had died completely. We were 100 NM from Killary. An easy decision to bring the engine into play as we had slowed right down. After a few minutes it sounded wrong so we shut it down and started looking into it. A leak in the gearbox almost all all the transmission fluid had leaked. We had spare but we had lost about 2 litres. This was critical and could leave us with out the engine. So….a hard but easy decision…..about turn and return to Killary. Initially we had slack winds meaning it could be days returning home but luckily our fortune changed and we got perfect winds. We lost wind along the Killary and Shane, Jamies son, came out and towed us in to anchor.

So, currently we are at anchor and the gearbox has to come out. Until we have this problem resolved we cannot continue on route……….Watch this space!!!